This invention relates in general to determining the effectiveness of antibiotics on microorganisms, and more particularly to an apparatus and process for conducting antibiotic susceptibility tests without isolating microorganisms.
The routine clinical procedure for determining the sensitiveness of microorganisms to antibiotics is basically a two-step operation which requires a minimum of 48 hours to complete. The first step involves growing the organism from a sample, and in that case the microorganism is isolated. The second step involves subjecting the isolated microorganism to various antibiotics to determine which one inhibits growth of the microorganism. Of course, during the time required to conduct the susceptibility tests, a patient's condition may worsen or change drastically. It is, therefore, imperative to determine the proper antibiotic and to administer it as soon as possible.